Pan-greasing machine



.lum 18,1929. j AEPEFFEF; V1,717,807

PAN GREAS ING MACHINE Filed March 17, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet l June. 18, 1929. A. B. PEr-'FER PAN GREASINGl MACHINE l Filed March 17, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jun; 18, .1929. A, B. PEFFER 1,117,801

PAN GREAS ING MACHINE Filed March 1'?, 1926 4 sheets-sheet 5 Cil Patented June 18, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE.

ALRID BERTRAND PEFFER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 IM- PERIAL MACHINE COMPANY, A PARTNERSHIP COMPOSED 0F ALRID BERTRAND IPEFFER AND EMIL SCHWARTZ, OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA.

PAN-GREASING MACHINE.

Application filed March 17, 1926. Serial No. 95,214.

This invention relates to pan greasing machines such as are now quite commonly used in large bakeries where many hundreds of pans have to be greased during the course of a day. In general such machines are equipped with a plurality, say five or six cleaning and greasing brushes which are rotatably mounted upon a series of spindles which are adjustable as to spacing. Grease is supplied to these brushes and the pans (commonly fastened together in groups of five or six) are inverted and placed over the brushes and then suitably shifted so that the interiors are cleaned and greased for another batch of bread.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a machine of this character which is considerably more simple than machines heretofore in use as well as one which can be more easily and simply manufactured as well as maintained in perfect operating order.

In so far as I am aware in all previous machines where each brush receives its individual supply of grease, this grease has been delivered through the spindle upon which the brush rotates and since these spindles must be made adjustable to fit different sizes of pans it has ybeen customary to supply the grease through a plurality of fieXible tubes or hoses which, of course, were more or less subject to leakage as well as other difficulties.

It is therefore an object of my invention to eliminate the use of an arrangen'ient such as described and to substitute therefor a means for supplying each brush with grease which means is entirely separate and independent of the spindle upon which it is mounted and yet one which will at'the same time be equally effective no matter what the spacing between the brushes might be.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a single pump 'for taking care of all of the brushes and one which is preferably continuously running with suitable means for lay-passing the flow of grease when it is not desired to have it delivered to the brushes.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a very effective and simple means for ad justing the spacing of the brush spindles as well as for driving them and in this connection also it is an object of the invention to provide a single means for accomplishing the rotation of the brushes and the pumping of Y the grease.

How all of the foregoing objects as well as s uch others as may appear hereinafter or are lncident to my invention are attained will be better understood byreferring to the accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention in preferred form. Many advantages incident to the structure as now to be disclosed will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Fig. 'l is what might be termed a side elevation of the back of the machine with certain parts of the supporting framework shown in section;

Fig. 2 is an end view looking from the left of Fig. 1 also with certain parts of the frame shown in section for purposes of clarity in illustration Fig. 3 is a plan view;

Fig. 4 is a partial side view of the device opposite to that shown in Fig. l;

4 Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are detailed views on an enlarged scale of certain features of the apparatus more particularly relating to the pumping mechanism; and Y Figs. 8, 9 and l() are enlarged views of portions of the apparatus illustrating certain details of the brush and spindle construction.

The device consists essentially of a supporting table-like framework l which, of course, may be of any desired construction that shown, for instance, being of suitable angle irons and sheet metal, the details of which need not be described as they form no part of the invention per se.

The brush spindles 2 are mounted for adjustment as to spacing along the bar 3 by means of a sliding clamp-like member 4. The spacing may be determined by means of a templet like strip of metal 4a (Figs. 2, and 3) having holes for the spindles. Thisis removable so that 'a strip with the holes spaced` at any desired distance apart can be quickly applied. The two end members 4 are provided with upward extensions 5 for the support and guidance of a reciprocating rack bar 6. Each spindle is provided with a pinion or gear 7 adapted to mesh with the rack bar 6 and therefore capable of imparting rotative motion to the brushes first in one direction and then inthe reverse direction as the rack bar is moved backwardly and forwardly by the driving mechanism to be described below'.

The brushes 8 are mounted on the tops of the spindles 2 a short distance above the tablelilre top 9. As shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 10 each spindle is provided with a sleeve 2 having slots 2b into which pins SL near the base of the brushes 8 are adapted to extend, one from each of two opposite sides. In this way the brushes are supported at the desired level on the spindles.

Below each brush and between it ,and the table top is located aigrease delivery spout 10. Each spout 10 has a downwardly eX- tending section of pipe 11 coupled at the bottom to the manifold 12. The feed pipe 13 for carrying the grease to the manifold takes the form of a vertical plunger extending down into the pump housing 14. The bottom extension 15 of the vertical plunger 13 is secured to one end of the lever 16 by a pin and slot connection at 17. 'Ihe lever 16 is suitably fulcrumed at 18 at a point between its ends, its opposite end being connected by means of the linliv or rod 19 with the operating lever 2() which latter is fulerumed at the point 21.

By stepping upon the foot pedal 22 it is therefore possible to raise the spouts 10 to a position where they will discharge against the bristles at the side of the brush. A spring V523 serves, in association with gravity, to return the parts to their inoperative position.

The. rack G is driven by the motor 24C thru the medium of the reduction gearing 25 and 2G, the hub or aXis of the latter carrying a crank 27 which is connected by means of the rod or link 28 to the arm 29' which depends rigidly from the underside of the rack G. As the wheel 26 is rotated the rack bar is drawn backwards and forwards across the spindle pinions 7 so as to alternately rotate the brushes Afirst in one direction and then in the other, the motion of the brushes being substantially continuous.

There is but one other fundamental feature to be described and that is the one which relates to the manner in which the grease is pumped thru the manifold 12 to the individual spouts 10. Particular reference should here be made to Figures 5, 6 and 7. In the first place it is desired to point out that the power for the pump plunger 30 is taken from the saine shaft as the power for the reciproeating rack bar, namely the axis of the gear 26. f In this instance, however, the crank 31 is located at the opposite end, connection being made by means of the rod In the positionillustrated in the figures, which is the position when no grease is being delivered to the brushes. the circulation produced by the pump which is continuously running is simply a return flow circulation to the source of supply in the container On the outward motion of the plunger 30 oil is drawn up thru the suction conduit 34, past the ball cheek valve 85, thru the connecting passage 36 and into the pump cylinder 37 as shown probably most clearly in F ig. 5. On the inward or return stroke of the plunger 30 the ball check valve immediately closes, the fluid being forced out of the cylinder 37 past the ball check valve 38 into the passage 39. The passage 89 is a horizontally running passage which communicates with a short vertically extending passage 40, the latter l'iaving a horizontal outlet 11 into the bore 42 in which the hollow plunger 13 is arranged to reciprocate.

t will be noted particularly from Fig. (5 that the piston 13 is of smaller diameter at thetop than it is at the bottom and when in its downward position as illustrated the grease simply flows around this portion of smaller diameter into the opposite horizontal outlet passage 13 which communi cates with a return duct or pipe all extending back into the container 33. In other words while no grease is being delivered to the brushes the circulation is by-passed so that it returns te the container.

Then the plunger 13 is raised. however, the interior passage Ll5 is brought into communication with the channel 41 by means of a short passage 4:6 (see particularly Fig. 6). It will therefore be obvious that the grease will be forced upwardly thru the plunger 18 into the manifold 12 and from there to the individual spouts 10.

The entire operation can be summarized as follows: lVhen the greasing operation is to be performed the operator grasps a series of pans et? and holds them in position over the brushes 8. Before they are brought down upon the brushes he steps upon the pedal 22 thereby raising` the spouts 10 to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and causing a delivery of greaseto the brushes 8. As he releases his foot he brings the pans down upon the brushes and moves them backward and forward across them so ythat 'they are thoroughly cleaned and lubricated by the revolving bristles of the brushes preparatory to another baking.

In this connection attention is directed to the fact that the upper part of the body of the brush is protected by means of a pad 48 which is nested down inside of the upwardly and outwardly flaring bristles at the top of the brushes. This is very clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. As the pau is brought down the bottom comes in contactwith the pad t8 before there is any possibility of pressure being brought to bear against the base of the lit) bristles at the point 19. As a consequence the bristles will last considerably longer than heretofore possible where the brushes were supplied with grease through a conduit extending upwardly thru the center of the spindles. In this previous practice it was impossiblevto use the pad as the pad would close ott the opening from the spindles butwith my invention this difiiculty is overcome and the brushes will last considerably longer.

It will be seen that the rack bar and the pump are both continuously running and that the pedal is used only for the purpose of bringing the spouts into delivery position, there being no pump connected Wit-h the pedal as in many prior devices with Which those skilled in the art Will be familiar'. It will also be noted that but a single operating means is used for imparting the necessary movement to the rack bar 6 as Well as to the pumping unit 14. This aids in making the machine simple and efficient as Well as easily maintained in good operative condition.

I claim 1. In a pan greasing machine the combination of a plurality of gfeasing elements rotatably mounted upon adjustable spindles, means for rotating said spindles, a grease delivery pipe for each element, pumping means operated by said means for rotating the spindles for forcing the grease through said delivery pipes, and means for moving the pipes to discharge on the elements, said pipes being normally retracted to clear the pans during a greasing operation.

2. In a pan greasing machine the combination of a greasing element mounted upon a rotatable spindle, pumping means for delivering grease to said element at will, a single means for continuously rotating said spindle and operating said pump, and means for luy-passing the flow of grease during periods of non-delivery to said greasing element.

8. In a pan greasing machine the combination of a greasing elementmounted upon a rotatable spin-dle, pumping means for delivering grease to said element at will, and a single means for continuously rotating said spindle and operating said pump together With means for by-passing the flow of grease 'during periods of non-delivery to said greasing element.

4. In a pan greasing machine the combination of a greasing element, continuously running pumping means for delivering grease to said element at will, and means for by-passing the flow of grease during periods of nondelivery to said greasing element.

5. In a pan greasing machine the combination of a greasing element, a movable spout for vdelivering grease to said element, a normally by-passed pump for the grease, and means for moving said spout to delivery position and simultaneously closing off said bypass and establishing a flow of grease from said pump to said spout.

6. In a. pan greasing machine the combination of a supporting framework Witha tablelilre top, a plurality of brush spindles adjustable as to spacing projecting upwardly through said top, a spout for each brush fixed as to spacing and normally occupying a position between the top and the respective superposed brush, a manifold connected to said spouts, means for supplying said spouts With grease through said manifold, and means for raising the manifold with the spouts so as to bring the'spouts in position to 'deliver grease on the brushes.

7. In a pan greasing machine, the combination of a plurality of greasing elements, grease feeding mechanism having a single continuously running pumping unit, means by which delivery of grease to said elements can be established or interrupted at Will, and means for by-passing the flow of grease during periods of nondelivery to said greasing elements.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

ALRID BERTRAND PEFFER. 

